Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Shared with me by a Stanton descendant with permission to post, this is a photo of the "Stanton Monument" that is in front of the Wilcox Tavern in Charlestown, RI. It reads:

Erected by the/State of Rhode Island/in memory of /Gen. Joseph Stanton, Jr./ First US Senator from Rhode Island/ Under the Constitution from/1790-1793/ US Representative from/ 1801-1807/ Born July 19, 1739 died Dec 15, 1821.

A Record , Genealogical, Biographical, Statistical, of Thomas Stanton, of Connecticut, and his Descendants 1635-1891 by William A. Stanton, Ph.D, D.D, 1891: Joel Munsell's Publishers, Albany, NY. gives this prominent man the following lineage on page 430:

#725 Hon. Joseph Stanton (Joseph, Joseph, Joseph) [the first Joseph being the son of Thomas] b. July 19, 1739 in Westerly, RI; m. Thankful Babcock, July 14, 1762, she died Aug 20, 1818, aged 79 years; he died Jan. 22, 1822 at Charlestown, RI. There were no children from this marriage.

As you can see, the Stanton genealogy's listed death date and the monument date are not the same.

Turning to the RI Historical Database (online and online at NEHGS), we find that this is considered a graveyard/cemetery, with a listing of CH050 (Charlestown #50) as being 10 feet north of Post Rd at Wilcox Tavern. [Note: each RI cemetery whether located or not bears a recorded number] This is the only listing for it: Stanton, Joseph, Gen'l, J. 1739-15 Dec 1821 The Wilcox Tavern is located at 4115 Old Post Road in Charlestown.

The birth of Honorable Joseph Stanton is listed in the Vital Records of RI at NEHGS as Stanton, Joseph (also 2:101) as 19 July 1739 2:36 Birth Charlestown. His marriage to Thankful Babcock is recorded as

His parents were Joseph Stanton [1717-1753] and Mary Champlin [1722-1750]. He is listed as #713 p. 426.

A history of the Episcopal Church in Narragansett RI, Volume 1, Part 2 By Wilkins Updike available at Google Books, gives his date of death as Jan 12, 1822on page 525

Unfortunately, his death date at the Vital Records is not listed. But, his wife's death is recorded as:
STANTON Mrs. Thankful, wife of Major General Joseph, at Charlestown, R. I., aged 79 years, Aug. 20, 1818 [Providence]

So, what is the accurate date? Does the fact that there are so many men named Joseph Stanton make the recording of dates more difficult?

It should be noted that his father Gen. Joseph Stanton is buried behind the General Stanton Inn, at 5 Post Rd. [CH035] 1766c-6 Aug 1850 where there are 12 burials and 4 inscriptions.